HDK takes U-turn after questioning 'US firm getting subsidy in Gujarat'

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: The newly appointed Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel HD Kumaraswamy has reportedly raised questions about the US-based semiconductor manufacturer potentially receiving Rs 3.2 crore subsidy for every job it creates in Gujarat.

However, a day later, he told reporters that he had been “misquoted” and said that the semiconductor industry was one of “strategic” importance for India.

During a live address to party workers in Karnataka on Friday, Kumaraswamy asked why India needed investments from US firm Micron Technology, which is setting up a $2.5-billion (approximately Rs 200 crore) unit in Gujarat.

“The new manufacturing unit will generate about 5,000 jobs,” Kumaraswamy said.

“For this, we are giving them $2 billion in subsidies...If you calculate, that’s 70% of the company’s total investment.”

Kumaraswamy told party workers that he had asked officials whether it was justifiable to allocate such a significant amount to the semiconductor project. In a post on social media on Saturday, he said that semiconductor manufacturing was a “basic requirement for electronics and automobile manufacturing”.

Kumaraswamy said that both the electronics and automobile sectors are important sources of employment. “I greatly appreciate the semiconductor related initiatives taken by the Office of the Prime Minister [Narendra Modi] and will work towards fulfilling them through my ministry,” he added.